Mary Lee Gambone

2015 Co-op Hall of Fame Inductee

Education

B.S. '82, Metallurgical Engineering, Purdue University
M.S. '84, Materials Engineering, MIT
Ph.D. '95, Materials Science, University of Virginia

Professional Career

Dr. Mary Lee Gambone has garnered over 30 years of distinguished experience in the aerospace materials field. Since joining Rolls-Royce in 1998, she has had several roles, including Chief of Research and Technology Strategy and Manager of Critical Part Lifing. Her early career as a materials engineer was with Allison Gas Turbine Division of General Motors and she enjoyed several years with the US Air Force as team lead for metal matrix composites research in the Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials Directorate.

In addition to her professional career, Mary Lee also serves on the Alumni Advisory Committee for Purdue’s School of Materials Engineering, as well as the SAE Aerospace Committee and the AFRL Metals Affordability Initiative Executive Steering Committee.

Mary Lee is currently the head of the Rolls-Royce Materials Engineering organization in Indianapolis. 

Co-op Advocate

While at Purdue, Mary Lee was a co-op for Armco Steel (now AK Steel) in Middletown, Ohio. Working in the Research Center, she evaluated a broad diversity of products ranging from cast iron grinding balls to composite casket liners. “What I remember most vividly is the helpful encouragement and instruction I received from the technicians and engineers I worked with. I learned so much about working in a laboratory and how to get along with people in a team from my co-op experience; I know I would not have been as good an engineer without it!”